Philippine Politics

BEIJING (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday urged China to match its growing economic and political clout with more funding and troops for peacekeeping operations to meet growing international crises.

China, a relative latecomer to global peacekeeping, has about 1,800 peacekeepers deployed abroad, making it the second largest contributor after France from among the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council.

“This is an area where China stands tall,” Ban said in a speech given to students at Beijing’s Foreign Affairs University.

“You are one of the U.N.’s leading member states, and you now rank among our top 10 contributors of both funds and peacekeeping forces. China will need to rise even higher in both rankings if we are to meet growing global challenges,” Ban said. read more…

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Republican presidential candidate John McCain agreed to further strengthen the long standing bilateral relations of the Philippines and the United States.

In a brief meeting, the President and McCain exchanged pleasantries and discussed RP-US relations.

”The Filipinos are watching this elections in the US and hoping for the new government to continue the relations of the US and the Philippines,” the President told McCain.

The President said she and McCain also discussed US’s support in the achievement of peace in Mindanao, through the application of the ”hard and soft” approach.

She thanked McCain for supporting the Veterans Equity bill and also asked the US to lead the efforts in addressing food security concerns. (PIA/Bohol)